Every Sunday there is also a new episode of the Stuifmail podcast. Listen to the podcast here:
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A pile of sand with a hole in the middle, who did that?
Angelique van Breukelen found a hole in the ground near the goat shed with all the loose earth surrounding the hole. I think it’s a typical hole of a young mole. They always have a hole in the ground where they go into the soil, with soil around that hole. They then dig tunnels where the well-known molehills come into view.
The moment they start a corridor system, there is first an open hole. It can also be an exit for a young mole, because after two months underground the young moles are already independent and are rejected. They then dig a tunnel perpendicularly upwards and go, largely above ground, in search of their own territory. So I think it’s a young mole.
Sparrowhawk at picking site – Wernhout game camera
Publication: Oct 26, 2019
This is the place where birds of prey (in the case of this video, a female sparrowhawk) strip their prey of feathers and eat them. We call this a picking place. These places can be recognized by a lot of feathers and other remains of ‘struck’ birds. Sometimes hawks and sparrowhawks use fixed picking sites.
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Holes and holes at the edge of the lawn, who does something like that?
Ineke Scholten discovered holes in her garden at the edge of the paved path and the lawn. She wondered who could have done that.
I think this is the work of a blackbird. Birds such as blackbirds, but also starlings, jackdaws and crows, can make such holes. In addition, some birds, such as crows, can also lift turf to reach insects.
So the purpose of all this is to look for food. That food could be insects, earthworms or insect larvae (see the photo of the grub, which is the larva of a cockchafer). They could all be under the grass.
A ‘frozen’ house sparrow in a peanut butter jar, but why?
Julie Roggen and Victor saw something special in their garden in Helmond Brouwhuis. A sparrowhawk (bird of prey) had landed in their laurel hedge and at that moment there was a house sparrow in the peanut butter jar, unfortunately no photo of the house sparrow.
That house sparrow wasn’t just sitting there in that pot, but the animal was sitting there as still as a mouse, slightly hunched over and eyes open, just like a stuffed animal. Julie and Victor think that the house sparrow had recently been attacked by that young sparrowhawk, see photo, and that the animal in the pot had assumed a kind of ‘frozen’ position.
Their question is, can that be true? I think so. We call this neophobia. Birds have then fled, their eyes are wide, they keep an eye on the danger and their feathers are pressed tightly against the body. This neophobia may indeed have been caused by the attack and the behavior of the sparrowhawk.
Beautiful photos section
In the photo you see a blue tit sitting on a spent sunflower. The photo was taken by Jenny Wiedlewsky.
Nature tip
On Saturday, January 18 from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM you can walk through Nuenen with a guide. The walk takes you past locations that are closely linked to Vincent van Gogh, or drawn or painted by him, with The Potato Eaters as the best-known work. You can stand where van Gogh stood. See what he saw and painted. A lot is still visible and tangible.
More information
- Departure point Van Gogh Village Nuenen Berg 29 5671 CA Nuenen, see this link also for more information
- Participation costs for the walk are €8.00 for adults, €5.00 for students and €5.00 for children aged 6 to 17.
- You can book via this link
- Dogs are not allowed.
- Tickets must be booked before 6pm on Friday